Means for shaping spoon-bowls and the like.



A. WILZIN.

MEANS FOR SHAPING SPOON BOWLS AND THE LIKE.

' APPLICATION-FILED OCT- H, 1913. 1,1 90,69.

W Z 14 TTORNEY ARTHUR. WILZIN, OF ST.-OUEN, FRANGE.

MEANS FOR ESHAPING SIPOON-BOWLS AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July it, ifidlri.

Application filed October 11, 1913. Serial No. 794,602.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR WILZIN, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident of tit.Ouen, in the Department of the Seine, France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Shaping Spoon-Bowls and the like, of which the fol lowing is a. specification.

In my British Letters Patent No. 9970 of r'ipril 26, 1912, I have described a process of making forks, spoons and the like flatware in which certain portions of the article, and particularly the handle portion and the bowl portion, are subjected to a. pressure which causes a radial flow of the metal to ward the circumference or margin of such portion, so as to both widen and lengthen said portion. My present invention provides improved means for carrying out said process, as will appear from the description following hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figures 1 and 2 are vertical sections showing two ways as first devised by me for the carrying out of the process disclosed in my said British patent; Fig. 3 is a vertical section, and Fig. 1 a plan View, of a lower tool or support; and Fig. 5 is an elevation,

' with parts in section, of an upper tool or punch cooperating with said lower tool.

I employed at first, say for pressing the bowl portion of a spoon in such a manner as to first engage the central part of the bowl and gradually force the material to ward the edge (radially), apparatus of the character shown in Figs, 1 and 2. In each case the working surface a or a of the lower tool or die A was sunk below the upper level A of said die, so as to leave a (vertical) confining surface Z) rising along the outer edge of the working surface a or a; the metal forced radially outward by the downward pressure of the upper tool or punch B was crowded against said confining surface. tween two convex surfaces and o in Fig. 2), or between a convex and a concave surface (as 0 and a in Fig. 1), the working surface 0 of the upper die or punch B having adjacent to it a vertical surface 6 adapted for guiding engagement with the confining surface Z) of the lower tool or die A. Tools of this construction work satisfactorily while new, but the working (pressing) and confining surfaces are apt to wear The article was pressed either beand sink more or less rapidly and consider ably owing to the heavy pressure brought to bear against them. On the other hand it will be obvious that the exact maintenance of these surfaces in the original conditions of grade" and contour, are practically indispensable for the successful carrying out of subsequent manufacturing operations, which maintenance becomes exceedingly difficult owing to the coordinatnm of two curvilinear surfaces and their combination with an edge (6) raised around one of them which renders rapid inspection and repairing practically impossible. In orderto overcome these difficulties, I modified the apparatus so as to embody one curvilinear pressing surface only, the other pressing surface being quite flat (plane), and an easily removable edge-confining piece superposed on said flat surface, said piece having an inside shape or line-which corresponds to the contour of the graded bowl. or other article to be obtained.

In the particular construction shown in Figs. 3, 1, and 5, the lower tool or die comprises a flat block C surrounded and clamped by a split frame D, I), which is keyed into the tool-holder or base E. The frame portions D, D, extend above the up per level of the block C, and between the projecting upper portions of said frame is arranged the contmir-confining organ F which for convenience of hardening and maintenance, is also made in two parts. Bars G, engaged by cap screws II, serve to hold the organ F down against the upper surface of the block C, the central portion of said upper surface forming the working or pressing surface o of the lower tool or die. This lower tool cooperates with an upper tool or punch B, movable vertically and having a convex working surface 0, with a vertical surface 7) adjacent thereto. This punch may be substantially the same as in Figs. 1 and 2, the working face of the punch being so shaped as to obtain the proper grade or distribution of metal in the bowl.

In using this improved press, the preliminary profiled blank J is placed on the lower tool, as indicated by dotted lines in Figs. 3 and 4. Thereupon the punch B is caused to come down on the blank J so as to first engage the central portion of the material and then, by heavy pressure, squeeze the metal into the thinner but wider shape which will fill the outline defined by the contour-confining organ F. This pressure causes the material to .flow from the central portion of the bowl, radially outward to the edge, that is to say, toward the adjacent portions of the edge-confining or contourconfining organ F.

In some cases, the final shape cannot be obtained in one operation or blow of the press. I then employ in combination with the same block C, frame D, D, and base or holder E, different confining organs F and corresponding punches B, of a proper intermediate form between the preliminary blank J and the final graded contour; that is to say, insuch cases the operation is performed in two or more steps, the pressing action and radial expansion being the same at each step as described above. Of course the preliminary blank subjected to the process should be thicker but narrower and shorter than the finished article, while containing the requisite amount of metal.

It will be understood that the edge-confining organ F of Figs. 3' and L is readily removable so that confining organs of different shapes may be substituted when clesired; this construction also enables the 0011- fining organs to be readily repaired or replaced when worn. Similarly, the upper die or punch B is removable from its carrier or holder K.

Various modifications may be made wit out departing from the nature of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a press for spreading spoon blanks and the like, ablock or die adapted to support the blank and having edge-confining Copies of this patent may be obtained for elements, and a punch movable relatively to said die andhaving a convex working surface, the central portion of which is nearer to the central portion of the die than the distance between the marginal portions of the punch and die respectively, whereby the removable contour-confining pieces engaging said die, and a punch having a convex working surface adapted to cooperate with said die.

et. In a press for spreading spoon blanks and the like, a block or die whose upper surface is adapted to support the blank, a removable edge-confining member engaging said upper surface, and a punch adapted to cooperate with said die.

5. In a press for spreading spoon blanks and the like, a block or die whose upper surface 1s adapted to support the blank, an

edge-confining member engaging the edges 7 of said die and overlapping its upper surface, means for holding said member against said surface, and a punch adapted to cooperate with said die.

ARTHUR \VILZIN. In presence of- J ACK H. BAKER, Hanson O. Come.

Washington, D. C. 

